As freshmen, the class of 2012 recreated School of Rock (2003), then returned last year with The Pacifier (2005). For this round at Night of the Stars (NOTS), they present the student body with the romantic comedy Hitch (2005).
The main stars in the production are Trevor York as the esteemed matchmaker Alex Hitchens; Tyler Krigbaum as the struggling single man Albert Brennaman; Austen Houts as the beautiful, empowered Sara Salem; and Kendall Wheeler as supermodel Allegra Cole.
Although some cast members are new to the task of NOTS filming, student leadership member Austin Rurik once again serves as producer, director, editor and cinematographer.
With his experience, Rurik takes charge and lends a hand to the movie-making process. When the time came to choose a movie, Hitch seemed a worthy option for the class to take on and present at the formal, Feb. 19, Rurik says.
“A lot of the people in the class took interest in [Hitich],” Rurik said. “It seemed like the best movie at the time that we could do as a group.”
Though Rurik took leadership of the entire production, he began to delegate the various management roles to other classmates, like Josh Hopper and David Casuga. The group collaborated to complete the necessary jobs.
“I don’t want to be completely in charge of everything because Josh and David [are] enjoying themselves,” Rurik said. “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for taking that away. If I do anything next year, I’ll probably just act, because I have huge time restraints; filming the movie takes away time from other responsiblities that I have.”
At first, Casuga had no intention of becoming the film’s co-director. However, because of his initiative at meetings, his influence in the movie began to grow. Due to his ability to type quickly, Casuga was able to create the entire script.
“This year, I volunteered to help and I ended up co-directing with Josh, and I became Austin’s assistant,” Casuga said. “It all started because I am quick at typing.”
In previous years, Casuga was not involved with NOTS filming, but found himself in the loop of communication this year. He took the chance to attend meetings and have a hand in the movie-making process.
“I’ve wanted to help for the last two years, but I missed the meetings and memos,” Casuga said. “This year, however, I got a Facebook message, and being able to drive myself helped a lot this year.”
As for Casuga, this year marks the first for Danielle St. Marie. Acting as producer, St. Marie organizes the filming itinerary and keeps the process running on schedule.
“I have always wanted to help with NOTS in previous years, but it wouldn’t fit into my schedule,” St. Marie said. “This year, I was able to help, and it was a lot of fun being involved.”
Through participating, students experience an array of atmospheres, both stressful and enjoyable. St. Marie joined the team without previous experience, but is still pleased with the production progress. Although the filmmakers have met drawbacks and complications, St. Marie believes that Hitch is making progress.
“I wasn’t involved in previous years to compare,” St. Marie said. “In the beginning, it was slow; but it started to pick up this past weekend. One thing that was difficult was getting class participation for extras.”
In the end, St. Marie and her fellow filmmakers agree that the increase of overall class camaraderie is a useful asset in completing the film.
“I think our movie is going to be really funny and a great crowd-pleaser,” St. Marie said. “When we were filming it, there wasn’t one scene when we wouldn’t laugh because of the actors, such as Trevor and Tyler.”
For more information, read the Feb. 1 article, Freshmen choreograph dance flick remake; the Feb. 9 article, Sophomores plot ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ rendition; and the Feb. 8 article, Senior class reinvents ’17 Again.’
